Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz plans for possible special session on guns in wake of Annunciation Church shooting

Allison Kite, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Aug 29, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is making calls to legislators and has his team planning for a potential special session on gun legislation, a senior administration official says.

“It’s time to take serious action at the State Capitol to address gun violence,” Walz said in a social media post Friday afternoon.

The push for legislation on firearms follows a mass shooting in south Minneapolis on Wednesday that killed two children and injured another 18 children and adults.

Democrats at local, state and federal levels of government on Thursday called for a ban on assault weapons after the attack, which took place during a back-to-school mass at Annunciation Catholic Church and School. Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, were killed in the attack.

The Minnesota Senate is controlled by Democrats by a single vote and the House is expected to return to a tie after an special election in September to replace former DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was shot and killed in her Brooklyn Park home alongside her husband Mark in June.

A special session would likely be called after the House is returned to a tie. Any proposal to ban assault rifles or change other gun laws at the state level would require bipartisan support in the chamber.

When Democrats held the Minnesota House and Senate in 2023 and 2024, they expanded background checks for gun sales and transfers. They also passed a red flag law allowing people to petition a judge to take away guns from anyone who is deemed dangerous.

But efforts to ban assault weapons didn’t get enough support to become law.

Police identified Robin Westman, 23, as the shooter and recovered a rifle, shotgun and handgun from the scene of the attack. Westman posted two videos to YouTube around the same time as the attack glorifying mass killers and fixating on school shootings. The videos included racist, antisemitic and anti-Christian phrases and symbols.

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